Resin Inlay Shamrock Earrings

These St. Patrick's Day Resin Inlay Shamrock Earrings are made of wood and vibrant green resin-filled shamrock accents!

Looking for some festive St. Patrick's Day jewelry? These Shamrock Earrings are just what you need! Made with wood and sparkling resin, these earrings are a unique accessory for St. Patrick's Day and make a great gift! This project is so easy to make using an xTool S1 laser cutting machine, and I'm going to walk you through the process step-by-step. If you are new to laser crafting and also want to try UV resin, THIS is a great project to start with!

New to laser cutting? Be sure to check out how to get started with the xTool S1 Laser Machine!

To make your own Resin Inlay Shamrock Earrings, you will need these supplies:

• xTool M1 or xTool S1 laser cutting machine
• Shamrock Earring Designs
• 3mm Basswood
• Stain or Chalk Paint Wax
• Packaging Tape
• UV Resin with UV Light
• Glitter - green
• Toothpick
• 2 6mm Jump Rings
• 2 Earring Hooks
• Jewelry Pliers

*Save extra 15% off on xTool selected materials: AFFMTRS15

Printables and cut files from Artsy-Fartsy Mama are for personal use only. This means you may use these for your own creations, but you may not sell them. If you'd like to share this project digitally, share a link to this post/website only. Do not share a direct link to the printable/cut file.

Upload the Shamrock Earrings design into xTool Creative Space. When you upload an SVG design, you need to make sure each part of the design is set for cutting, scoring, and/or engraving. For this project, all you need to do is cut! In the right menu bar, change the material setting to 3mm Basswood. 

*Feel free to adjust the size of the earrings to suit your preferred earring length. The pieces I cut were about 1.25" tall.

Place a piece of 3mm basswood into the xTool S1 machine. Manually pull the laser box with your hand so that the red "+" is located on the material - it doesn't have to be centered.

In XCS, you will see "Distance (mm)" in the right menu bar. Click on the target icon to the right of that space, and the machine will automatically measure your material.

For more details on how to complete this step, be sure to check out my review of the xTool S1 Laser Machine!

Make sure that the earring design elements are within the marked bounding box in XCS, and then click the green "Process" button in the bottom right corner to proceed to cutting the project. 

After removing the earring pieces from the machine, I would highly recommend cleaning the soot away from around the edges of the wood using a Magic Eraser or baby wipes to prevent making marks all over your hands and workspace.

Now it's time to stain the wood earrings. Pick out your favorite stain, or use an antique chalk paint wax like I did. If you're using the wax, paint a thick coat over the surface of the wood and let it sit for a few minutes. Use a paper towel to buff away the excess wax from the surface of the earrings.

Repeat the process for the opposite side of the earrings.

Cut a 6-8 inch piece of packing tape and fold the ends over. This makes it easier to move the earrings around. Place the shamrock earring pieces on the sticky side of the tape and use a brayer tool to press them down REALLY well. Turn the tape over and press them again. I'd recommend even scraping the tape down well with your fingernails so that the earrings are stuck to the tape as much as possible. Any air bubbles or openings will give the resin areas to seep out.

Mix up a mixture of fine green glitter with a little bit of of resin in a small mixing cup using a toothpick. Use the end of the toothpick to fill the shamrock openings with the resin mixture all the way to the top, but be careful to not overfill!

Repeat the process for all of the earrings. Run a lighter quickly over the resin to pop any surface bubbles.

Slide the tape under a UV light for about 5 minutes to cure the resin. Next, flip the tape/earrings over and cure the opposite side of the resin under the light for another 5 minutes.

Lightly tap the surface of the resin to make sure it has cured. It should be hardened completely and no longer tacky.

Slowly and carefully peel the tape away from the earrings. If there are any areas that don't seem to be cured, stick the tape back down and use the UV light to cure it a bit longer. If you have any sticky residue left behind once the tape has been removed, use a cotton swab dipped in alcohol to wipe the area clean.

To give the earrings a finished look, dome the top with one last coat of clear UV resin. Use a toothpick to cover the entire surface with resin, making sure to get it right to the edges. Pop any surface bubbles with a quick pass with the lighter, and then cure under the UV light. I would also recommend covering the opposite sides of the earrings.

Use pliers to open a jump ring for each earring. Hook the rings through the holes in the top of the shamrock earring pieces. Next, attach the earring hooks to the jump rings. Close the jump rings with the pliers.

Make sure the jump rings are completely closed so that the hooks don't come off!

Now you can see why I have two different earring designs. I made both, thinking I would like one pair over the other, but.... I love them both!! These rectangle ones are a bit more subdued, and I love the pops of color from the shamrock shapes. Of course, I also love that sparkle!!

This other pair of shamrock earrings definitely show off the larger shamrock shapes, which means a bit more color.  I absolutely LOVE how both pairs of these Resin Inlay Shamrock Earrings turned out, and would love to hear what you think! As always, if you make any of these projects for yourself, I'd love to see your creations! Tag me on Instagram and Facebook, or leave a comment/photo on the project pin on Pinterest!

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